Projects in Progress!

Happy Friday the 13th!  I wanted to share with you a few of the things I've got going on now.  I'm pretty much snowed in from the storm that dumped all the snow on us that we've been missing for the past month so I've been working on new jewelry designs!  I suppose not being able to go anywhere has been good since there's not so much to distract me including my little girl who is stranded at Grandma's (I'm sure she thinks it's cool being able to stay there for three days instead of the usual two, lol!).

Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner it seemed fitting to add some new heart designs to the collection in my shop.  I've had the design scribbled out on paper for a while but other projects buried it.  Once I've finished oxidizing and shining these will eventually become a pair of cute earrings and a necklace!

The other project I don't want to give away just yet but I bought these adorable little ceramic owl beads and I've been dying to use them!  I can tell you it will be a multi-strand necklace with the cutie owl as a focal ;)

I should have these finished and listed next week since I don't usually list over the weekend.  That and between shoveling and my birthday on Sunday, I'll be too busy anyway! 

Of course I need to share some Treasuries with you!  The one on top is the latest one I made for the NNN Team and EHB Team!

Crafty Moments: The Start of My Visual Art Journal

Inspiration, I've got it

Creative block.  It sucks.  I get it almost every year around this time.  The holidays are over, the weather sucks, it's cold, and all I want to do is sit on my butt and watch Bones (Booth is hot, isn't he?) all day with Netflix instant streaming on the big screen.  However this year isn't so bad.  I totally admit I've been procrastinating something fierce about listing new jewelry.  Lets face it clicking renew on listings coming due is soooo much easier than taking a million photos, thinking of a great description to make you all drool, and racking my brain for tags to make sure you can all find it when searching Etsy!  Doing that won't have me swimming in dollars (as if I was ever lol!) though so create I must!

The agate beach on Hunter's Point in Copper Harbor MI

Hiking in Copper Harbor

Since I am one of those overly fussy (and stubborn) artists who blatantly refuses to lift a finger unless I'm in the mood for it, it sometimes takes a little motivation if you will.  Over the past years, my Canon and I have amassed quite the stunning collection of photography from my many trips here and there throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula and it's about freaking time I do something with it!  Staring at hundreds of photos on the computer hunting for one to pique my interest has grown rather dull so I decided to make my own visual art journal comprised of my favorite shots.

Page one, there's the apple tree that graces much of my work!

I made a little pocket for the matching palettes so I can take them out

I came up with the idea when I stumbled across this awesome blog about Smash Books.  What is that you may ask?  Basically it's a scrapbook style journal instead of a written one.  It's not a journal and it's not a scrapbook either, it's a little of both.  That sounded like a perfect idea!  I cannot for the life of me keep a consistent written journal and scrapbooking is sooooooo time consuming!  So now I have a reason to use all those super cute little rubber stamps I've been hoarding and I can use scrapbooking papers for something other than handmade cards!  I can have a spot for all my doodles of past wire designs, thoughts for new projects, and someplace to put oodles of pretty pictures!  Yay!

Isn't that just cool?

This journal I've started is meant to help give me ideas for new jewelry, paintings etc when my brain feels tapped out.  To make it more visually appealing I will be basing each page on color coordinated swatches I've downloaded and stuffed in little corner pockets from my favorite color palette site Design Seeds.  I love how they come up with each carefully designed color palette based on a real photo.  Their site is wonderful when I want help picking out just the right color combo for new beaded treasures!  You can search by color themes or color value so if I want to find colors inspired by nature or a particular season it's a cinch to find something I love!  I also know where to go when I get bored with the color scheme in my house :) My first two pages that I've shown in here are based on woodland tones, my favorite!  I adore mossy greens, olive, and woody browns.  Go figure, lol!

I love my mini alphabet stamps, so cute!

Now I have actually been working on new jewelry and got a few new earrings up in my Etsy Shop for you to take a peek at!  They are Bronzed Champagne Vintage Luster Earrings, Amethyst Crystal Vintage Luster Earrings, Angel Wings Earrings, and Lock and Key Earrings.  I've got more that I should have listed soon once I get photos taken as well.

Vintage Luster Earrings in Amethyst Crystal

I can't forget about all these awesome Treasuries!  Take a peek!

Chirstmas Shopping, New Merch and Upcoming!

SOLD and re-listed!

Isn't this jewelry box SUPER cute!

Galeaz Glass on Etsy makes them!

I'm very happy my sales have been picking up a bit more with the biggest shopping season of the year looming over us.  The stores are getting crazy and thankfully I'm nearly done with my Christmas shopping list!  Jealous?  All I have left is to buy something for my father-in-law tell my husband ideas for the hardest person on our list-me!  I have my eyes set on a GORGEOUS handmade glass jewelry box made by Galeaz Glass on Etsy and a new pouch with cute owls on it for the new Droid I'll be getting the end of December (I sooo HATE my BlackBerry, I think I see a sledgehammer in its future), I'm still deciding which Etsy shop to buy from though, there's so many!

Autumn Sunrise

I recently listed two brand new items in my shop.  The first is Autumn Sunrise, a new pair of wire wrapped copper earrings featuring some oh so lovely autumn jasper beads!  I've wire wrapped these beauties by hand using sold copper wire which I've oxidized and shined for a rustic and vintage touch.  They also hang from hand forged earring hooks made of copper wire.

Cobalt Coral

Next up is Cobalt Coral, I had bought these wonderful blue genuine coral beads some time ago but had no real plans for them till now!  They were too pretty to pass up and had such a wonderful texture!  This necklace features the lovely 14mm coral bead as a focal surrounded with ornate bead caps and beads with lots of dainty brass chain fringe dangling below!

Coming Soon!

I also wanted to give everyone a sneak peek of two items I just finished doing photo edits on!  they'll be listed in my shop before Thanksgiving and (if they don't sell before then) they'll be with me at my next craft show Decemeber 3rd at the Rapid River American Legion from 9-4pm!  If I missed you at my last show, I hope to see you there!

Coming Soon!

In case you haven't seen them yet, I now have a new gifting option that I mentioned was coming soon!  I now offer super cute hand stamped kraft boxes that you can purchase as an upgrade from the organza bag when you purchase jewelry from my shop!  They're only a few bucks each, come tied with a cute little twine bow and you have several stamps to choose from!  All I ask is that you please purchase your upgrade and jewelry together to save you shipping as there's no extra shipping charge for the box if you purchase it with jewelry from my shop!

Hand Stamped Kraft Boxes!

Lastly, I'd like to show you all some sweet treasuries I've had the honor of being featured in, check them out!

New Briolette Necklaces and Cute Owl Pendants!

Honey Drop

I finally got to use some gemstone briolettes I purchased what seems like forever ago.  I don't know why I just stuck these little sparkly gems away in my beading box to never again see the sunlight for several months, especially since I knew what I wanted to do when I bought them.  However late is better than never right?

Nightfall

I have a few more briolettes in misty green chalcedony, icy blue quartz, and some chalk turquoise waiting to made into necklaces but I wanted to test the waters if you will with the first four I have available in my shop now.  Each briolette has been wire warpped in copper wire with a little swirl design and oxidized, shined and sealed with Renaissance Wax to preserve the finish.  Along with the briolette are pretty Czech glass beaded charms for added detail.  The sparkly pendants are each on 22" brass plated chains with lobster clasp closures.

Olivine

Almond Coffee

I have Honey Drop, a warm honey yellow citrine briolette perfect for showing off nature's fiery autumn colors.  Next up is my personal favorite, Olivine, a gorgeous earthy olive colored quartz briolette that reminds me of long walks in the mossy woods as a kid.  Almond Coffee is a coffee quartz briolette with swirls of mocha just like your favorite coffee house latte on a brisk morning.  Nightfall is a jet black onyx briolette just as dark as a moonless night for an ultra chic look for just about any occasion!

Boy Meets Girl

Hoot at the Moon

Whoo

Last but not least are the four new owl pendants in my shop!  I'm pretty excited about these little guys and they're just so darn cute!   My favorite of the four is Boy Meets Girl, it was love at first sight when little green boy owl met pretty in purple girl owl!  Adorable for Halloween is Hoot at the Moon with a little brown owl with golden eyes looking up at the moon in a star filled sky.  Whoo is up close and personal with a sweet little owl in a warm sienna color peeking at you with a sliver of retro teal behind him.  Lastly, he may be a little nerdy but he's oh so loveable as Smarty Owl with his little glasses on sitting on a branch with a red background.  Who can say no to that?  :)

Smarty Owl

 Coming soon I'll be offering a great new gift option for my jewelry with the holidays coming up right around the corner!  I'll be making custom hand stamped jewelry kraft boxes tied with natural twine cord!  They're eco-freindly, sturdy, inexpensive, reusable, time saving and did I mention that they're CUTE?  I'm keeping my general theme of "nature inspired" just like most of my jewelry using flowers, leaves, birds, dragonflies, etc for stamping options.  I should have the listings up and ready soon, keep an eye out and I'll also announce them on my blog and my Facebook Page!

Hand stamped kraft boxes, will be available in 3 sizes!

So Far So Good!

A few mini canvases I made

Well I have successfully completed my first day of my new work schedule!  There was no running around, I didn't feel stressed, the house was cleaned, and I even got to go over the color and shape flash cards with Kaylie!  I do admit it is hard to not touch the computer till 11:30am instead of popping on first thing after waking up while I try to eat breakfast and peel hungry cats off me.

A series of thumbnails for paintings

Today's project is to make more mini canvases so I can get started on my mini paintings!  I prefer to make everything myself rather than buy my surfaces from a catalog or store.  Store made ones may look "perfect" but hand made frames have more pride!  I also need to get my handy hubby to zip up some boards so I can make plastered boards for my mixed media works.  I'm not particularly fond of the table saw, ha ha!  My mini canvases are made of solid poplar stretcher frames with 100% natural unbleached heavy duty cotton duck canvas.  Hopefully soon I'll be able to have the first few up and listed on Etsy!  I have lots of thumbnails worked out for ideas!  I've decided so far to have 4"x4" canvases and also some 4"x3" ones too.  Those sizes seem to be a good fit for mini canvases without being too small.  I may try to crank out a few paintings this weekend while Kaylie is napping since I don't think my husband and I are doing anything otherwise.  We pretty much hibernate all winter!